When I started selling toys lots of people told me that I would get faster at making them, that I'd be able to be super efficient and that my business would blossom with staple lines of toys that were all unique and somehow quickly made.
I'd like to set the record straight for anyone else out there thinking that they'll be able to push out handmade items as if they were a large scale Chinese factory... it isn't true! I used to make up batches of about 20 toys at once, have them like a production line, make all the faces, the bodies, the arms, etc. I did get things done, but it was tediously boring and sometimes I could feel the tension in my back just from sitting at the sewing machine. And the cute to ugly toy ratio was not good. I'd end up with about half of toys looking well... a bit ugly... the fabrics seemed like a good idea at the time, but turns out in the end, they were not.
I think I'm learning a bit. I make about 4 toys at once now, that's 4 faces, and 4 bodies-- usually because I get so excited putting the fabrics together, that I can only limit it to 4 bodies... sometimes I get so excited that 6 manage to happen... but once I have the bodies & faces, I just make the whole toy up as an individual project, and it's so much more rewarding. The cute to ugly ratio is doing a lot better, generally because when you're paying that much attention to a toy, you know if it's going to be ugly and you stop making it... which is important because I use some pretty expensive fabrics and I can't afford to waste things.
So anyway, why am I sharing all this with you? Well because I think it's really good for my creative process, and it allows my mind to wonder around and come up with new ideas, to improve what I am doing, and it definitely affects my creative space! It has been full of ideas this week. I'm finally making up the little penguin toy that has been going through my brain since watching David Attenborough's Planet Earth weeks and weeks ago.
Hopefully she will be finished soon!
More Creative Spaces as always at Kootoyoo!
B.
